Tappet holding wrench



, May3, 1949. QE N 2,468,983

TAPPET HOLDING WRENCH 7 Filed Jan. 21, 1946 Y \NvaNTog CHARLES Edonusou E $0M... Mk

TTO RNEXS Patented May 3, 1949 TABBET-HQLDINGWRENGH Gharles- JO'hn On North- Muskegon, Mich, as-

signor to Johnson- Products; Inc., Muskegon Heights, Mich a corporationrofr Michigan. Amwlication-;I :-tnuar.y 21, 1946, SerialfNo. 642,538

(Cll-81-3L02') Z'Glatims.

This, invention relates to. a. tappet. holdin wrench, and is concerned.withtheimprovement and simplification. of wrenches, of the character mentioned suchas shownin my pendingapplicap tion. for. Patent SenINo. '623;2136;ffi1ed November 13, 1945.

As described: in said; pending. application, the adjusting ottappets to. proper. length betweema cam onacam sha'ftandthe lower end of avalYe stem requires a, holding, of the tappet, body. from turning, this heretofore. having been. generally done by use of. a wrench. which must be 1 held by one hand of the mechanimwhilethe tappet screw screwed intothe upperendof. .the body. istturned in. the selected. direction. by, a second: wrench manipulated by the mechanic. with his other hand. In the presentinvention,,asthe disclosure shown in my pending application, a holding wrench has beenndevised which spans thespace between two adjacent tappets, may be,- very quickly connected therewith. or. removed, and whichholds the tappetbody. of the tappfilladr justedfirmly and securely. against turning about its longitudinal axis-,4 thereby .ireeing one hand of a mechanic; with a resultant much. better and easier accomplishment of.- tappet adjustment which, at-thebest, is asomewhat'difiicult opera,- tion. Such operation isattained-lmucheasierand moresatisfactoryby vtheuseof myv invention which, when used, holds a tappet' which isbe-ing adjusted withcerta-inty-and absolute assurance that it will not-turn about itsdongitudinalaxis to any extent or degree whatsoever, thereby eliminating the uncertainty ofthe humanfactorwoccurring when the 'tappet bodyis helda ainst such turning movement .by a manually held wrench.

The invention likewise isr-adapted for use conjunction with substantially-alhif not.a11=, m ot,or vehicle internal combustionrengines and isavaih able for use in. the very omen-Inscribed: spaces which many engines have,;there-.beingnoroquirement for changing the over-all lengths of. the tappets in engines built andin service.

The construction oi tappet wrenches. which I have devised is applicabletoa; make oi ash-8 en: gine, in which initially the tappets arernonadjustable, andhave apreselected length which cannot be changed. forwreplacement or :for serve icing; engines-of such character... .I have-devised amechanically-adjustablegtapnetr for the; initially installed nonadjustable-tappets which, as to its body portion; is short-erthanthe original tappet used in the engine, andhas anad-justable screw, threaded into the-upper end of the tappet body, the overall length of I the adjustable tappet from the lcwerendof the bodyto the upperside of the head of the screw being substantially the same-asthat of thenon-adjust-able tappet which it"replaces. And, inasmuchasthe space between thetappet guide-and the valve mechanism above is verylimited so that it'isnot possible to provide a tappetbody-wit-h--the usual-fiat-sides at its upper end, for engagement bya wrench to hold it against turning around, such wrench engaging surfaces-at the'upper'end of the tappet body are eliminated, and a novel means for connecting the wrenchof my invention with abody of a tappet tobe adjusted andalso with the tappet next adjacent thereto has been devised.

In my'prior application, the tappet to be ad;- jus-ted'was disposed in its lowermost position, and the one next adjacent in a higherpositiomnecessitating a. turning'of the engine cam shaft until suchprescribed positioning oftwo adjacent tape pets occurred. In thepresentinvention suchpositioning of two adjacent tappets is not required, but a tappet maybe adjusted when held 'by'the wrench of my invention with the next adjacent tappet at the same height. Furthermore, in the present invention no separately made and assem'bled retaining orlocking member is required, there being an elimination of such retaining or looking memberas a securing means used and movably-mounted upon the body of the wrench. This reduces the structure to its simplest and most economical form, thereby very appreciably lessening-manufacturing. cost.

An understanding of the invention may be had from-the followingdescription, taken, in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which,

Fig. I is a fragmentary, substantially horizontal section taken through the upper part of an internal combustion engine and over the upper ends of the tappets and-their; guides, showing the tappetwrench connected at on end to the body of the tappet tobe adjusted, and operably connected at its other end with the next adjacent tappet screw.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section. substantially on the plane of: line 2-.-2' of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3is=aJfragmentaryzvertical; section substane 3 tially on the plane of line 3-3 of Fig. 1, both sections looking in the directions indicated by the arrows.

Fig. 4 is a perspective View of the tappet wrench.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary enlarged plan and horizontal section, showing the shank of a tappet screw and the formation of the opening or recess in a tappet wrench to receive it.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 1, with the wrench as designed for the tappet adjustment revised, and modified in form for such revisal.

Like reference characters refer to like parts in the different figures of the drawing.

The tappet wrench of my invention is made from a single plate of fiat metal. It has a body portion :1 of a generally trapazoidal form and with diverging side edges, and at the wider side of the body an are shaped section 2 is preferably depressed, surrounding a generally arc shaped recess 3, open at its outer side, the detail of the specific form of which will be later described. At

the same side of the body I it is extended as an arm 4 a short distance and then directed backwardly at an angle, as indicated at 5, at its free edge having a tongue 5 bent downwardly at right angles, the vertical edges of which are preferably serrated though not necessarily so. From adjacent the depressed section 2 to the section at 5, a reinforcing and strengthening flange I is bent upwardly at right angles. Such flange may be further extended and turned to lie alongside of the edge of the end portion 5, if for reasons of strength it may seem desirable. The body I adjacent its outer end preferably has an opening 8 therethrough, shown as of circular form.

The recess at 3 having an open side is a special form as shown in Fig. 5. The angle of the edges 9 and II) at each side of the recess is less than a straight angle and the meeting of lines projected toward each other from the edges 9 and I is substantially at the center of the recess the innerside of which is at a point indicated at I I, so that if a true are was struck from said center, any body circular in cross section to enter said recess, would be of'a diameter less than the diameter of the are shaped recess made. In the construction of the wrench which I have devised, the bottom of the inner edge of the recess at i l is slightly flattened and the metal is cut away at both sides of the recess as indicated in 52, substantially to form arcs of a circle of substantially the same radius as a body having a circular cross-section which will pass between the pointed portions at I3 between the outer end of the arcs I2 and the angularly disposed edges 9 and IE). Therefore, the shank IA of a tappet screw, having a head I screwed into the upper end portion of the tappet body I5, will enter such recess freely and with the tongue 6 anchored in a downwardly bored recess I? in the upper end of the next adjacent tappet body, wrench pressure applied to the head I5 of said next adjacent tappet screw will move the device so that either one are IE or the other will come into engagement with the cylindrical surface of the shank I4 adjacent the ends of the arm i2 engaged. Which of the are shaped edges I2 will thus grip or engage with the surface of the shank I4 of a tappet screw depends upon which direction the screw of the next adja cent tappet is turned. In either case there is provided a secure holding of the device in place, and with no possibility of disengagement so long as turning pressure is exerted upon the tappet screw of the tappet which is being adjusted.

The tappet bodies I6 of tappets of internal combustion engines are mounted in suitable guides of cylindrical form made in the engine lock I8. As is conventional practice, the lower end of the body I6 of each tappet rides upon or bears against a cam I9 of an engine cam shaft 20.

As shown in Fig. 1, the wrench device of this invention is applied by grasping it between the thumb and first finger at the opening 8, passing the extension 4 between two adjacent tappets and locating the downturned tongue I5 in one of the series of openings I! made at the upper end of each tappet body I6. While four of said openings I! are shown, the number may be increased or diminished without changing the invention. When the tongue 6 has thus been located in an opening H of one tappet body, the body portion I is moved inwardly so that the recess at 3 receives the shank IA of the tappet screw next adj acent. The body IS of the tappet engaged by the tongue 6 may be moved about its vertical axis to bring said recess at 3 to proper position to receive the screw shank I4.

A wrench may now be applied to the head I5 of the tappet screw of the tappet engaged and held by the tongue 6, and the screw may be turned in either direction, with an immediate slight movement of the wrench device of this invention so that one of its arc shaped edges at I2 engages the adjacent curved surface of the screw shank I4. Continued turning of the tappet screw by the wrench engaged therewith maintains a continuous pressure against the shank Id of said next adjacent tappet screw, thus retaining the shank I4 within the recess 3 positively, and preventing any disengagement therefrom. And if the turning of the tappet screw engaged is reversed there is a small bodily movement of the body I bringing the other or opposite are shaped edge I2 against the opposite side of the shank Id of the screw which is in the recess 3.

In Fig. 6, the tappet wrench which I have produced, is the same as in Fig. 1, except it is reversed. That is, for an engine two of the tappet holding wrenches of my invention are required in order that all of the tappets of an engine may be adjusted. The tappet shown does not enter into detail of structure of a self locking character of the screw used, as this forms no part of the present invention, and may be of several well known construction types, some of which have been devised by me, as shown for example, in my Patent No. 2,361,107, issued October 24, 1944. The invention however, is not in any sense limited to the use of the self-locking tappet screw oi the patent mentioned.

With the construction described a tappet holding wrench of the simplest form has been produced, eliminating the locking member shown in my prior application. The tappet wrench of my invention is instantly applied, falls naturally into place in engines of the V-type, because of its simplicity of structure is very economically produced and with the difficult operation of adjusting tappets is much more quickly and easily performed.

The invention is defined in the appended claims and is to be considered comprehensive of all forms of structure coming within its scope.

I claim:

1. A tappet hOlding wrench comprising a fiat metal body widened at one end and having at a side edge thereof a recess to receive the shank of the screw of a tappet, said body at its opposite REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in'the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,431,832 Mills Oct. 10, 1922 1,511,913 Saunders Oct. 14, 1924 10 2,196,929 Lizakowski Apr. 9, 1940 2,360,163 Sadler Oct. 10, 1944 

